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 Garrard - 500 Forecar
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Garrard Forecar motocyclette motorrad motorcycle vintage classic classique scooter roller moto scooter
Photo ou archives : F-M. Dumas
5109

Capacity : 500
Model : Forecar
Production : 1904 -
Category : (R) 3-Wheeler

GARRARD

500cc Forecar - 1904

Evolutionary dead end

Meetings of mechanically-minded enthusiasts are as old as motorcycling. One tum-of-the-century group that gathered regularly in the British industrial city of Birmingham centered around engineer James Lansdowne Norton, whose company made chains.

Wealthy Entrepreneur

Another member of the circle was a wealthy entrepreneur, Charles Riley Garrard, who saw the potential of the new craze. In 1902, he concluded a deal to import French-built Clement engines for installation into British frames, calling the result "Clement-Garrards".

Full Suspension

"Pa" Norton built the frames for Garrard and soon decided to produce his own bikes, offering virtually identical machines as the Norton "Energette" in 1902. Norton bikes soon became world famous, while Garrard's products faded away, though not before the company had begun to manufacture tri-cars, then seen as a kind of halfway step between motorcycles and automobiles. Many of these machines were just motorcycles with a two-wheeled "forecarriage" bolted on in place of the front forks, but Garrard used a specially designed three-wheeled frame. He fitted his forecar with a front and rear suspension, at a time when most machines had no springing at all. However, the forecar craze was short-lived; the introduction of small low-priced cars provided a more popular alternative, and the forecar was dead by 1907.

SPECIFICATIONS

Engine: 500cc water-cooled single-cylinder four-stroke; total-loss lubrication; magneto ignition

Power Rating: 3.5 hp

Valves: automatic intake, side exhaust

Fuel System: carburetor

Transmission: 3-speed hand-shift; leather-faced cone clutch; shaft-and-worm gear final drive

Suspension: semi-elliptic leaf (front); swinging cantilever with coil spring (rear)

Brakes: dummy belt rim (rear)

Wheels: 26x2.5 inch clincher (front & rear)

Weight: 392 lb

Maximum Speed: 20 mph

With its elegant wickerwork forecarriage and purpose-built frame, the Garrard "suspended tri-car" was nevertheless a technological dead end.




Le fichier Moto Passion réalisé par François-Marie Dumas réunit près de deux mille photos accompagnées d'un historique très complet des machines présentées.
Il sera progressivement mis à jour ici et toute information complémentaire est la bienvenue sur info@moto-collection.org.

Cette documentation unique, qui constitue sans doute l'encyclopédie la plus exhaustive jamais écrite sur l'histoire de la moto, a été réalisée avec l'assistance de nombreux spécialistes dont principalement Didier Ganneau, Christophe Gaime, Mick Woollett, Jean Goyard, Bernard Salvat, Christian Rey, Yves Campion, Helmut Krackowizer, Michael Dregni, Michel Montange, etc. que je remercie ici.

Disponible sur demande :
- Les fiches originales sur papier
- Les photos et archives signées de mon nom en haute définition ou les documents originaux.
Me contacter sur info@moto-collection.org pour les conditions et droits d'utilisation.